A/N: The bold sections on September 5 come from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p. 219. The bold quote from October 31 comes from p.271 and 272 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Only one more chapter! :) Many thanks to my beta Jonelle! :)

Chapter Eight--Re-ally

September 5, 1994-- Hogwarts

"Some lesson, though, eh?" said Ron to Harry as they set off for the Great Hall. "Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right—"

But Ron fell suddenly silent at the look on Harry's face and didn't speak again until they reached the Great Hall. As Harry had at every meal since they arrived at Hogwarts, Harry crossed to sit beside Ginny. Ron couldn't believe they were sitting with her again.

"Harry, don't you want to sit by Fred and George? That way we can find out if there are any new Moody stories," Ron prodded Harry.

"Ron, we just came from Moody's class, remember? Besides, I wanted to talk to Ginny," Harry retorted. He turned to start a conversation with Ginny.

"You always want to talk to Ginny," Ron muttered. Hermione glanced up from her furious eating at him before looking at Harry and Ginny on the other side of the table.

"Ron, you need to understand. They have a bond in a way no one else has—their shared experience of the Chamber," Hermione explained.

"Yeah, well, we have the shared experience of the troll, of the tasks guarding the Stone, of the Forbidden Forest, of the Shrieking Shack. Yet, we get shunted aside like a Bludger so he can talk to my baby sister," Ron said cuttingly in a low voice.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione hissed. "We haven't gotten shunted aside as you put it. Who does Harry attend classes with? Who still sits with him at meals? Us!" She looked askance at him for a long moment before exclaiming, "You're jealous! I can't believe you're jealous."

"I am not," Ron denied vehemently.

"You're not jealous just like I'm not going to the library," Hermione said smugly as she finished her food and grabbed her bag to leave. "Well, I'm off to the library," she said to the group before smirking at Ron.

"Bye, Hermione. See you later in the common room?" Harry asked of his friend, pausing his discussion with Ginny to say goodbye to her. After her departure, Harry and Ginny included Ron in their discussion, completely unaware of the jealousy burning in him.

October 31, 1994-- Great Hall

Ginny had an uneasy feeling sweep over her as she crossed the threshold of the Great Hall, heading for the Gryffindor table. She glanced down its length, but saw that Harry wasn't there yet. Finding a seat, she decided to use this time to figure out what was causing her discomfit. Scanning the room, her eyes came to rest on the Goblet of Fire. Her mouth thinned as she recalled Fred and George's attempt to put their names in there. She was extremely glad that Bill and Charlie were out of school and therefore disqualified from competing. At least this meant no one she cared about would be in danger.

Looking back at the table, Ginny saw that Harry and Ron had sat down across from her during her musings. Chatting, their casual tone was belied by their tense body language as they waited impatiently to find out who the Champions would be.

When Dumbledore extinguished all the lights, Ginny became very apprehensive. She tried to reassure herself by repeating that no one she really considered family could participate. However, her apprehension continued and only intensified when the Goblet glowed red for the fourth time.

"Harry Potter."

Ginny turned to look at Harry. His face was frozen in shock. That look combined with his promise to her not to try to enter told her that she had had every reason to worry. Because if Harry hadn't put his name in--which she was sure he didn't--then someone else had. But who?

She tried to smile at him when he looked over and said "I didn't put my name in. You know I didn't." A feeling of dread swept over her as Hermione pushed at Harry to follow Dumbledore's direction. She watched as Harry stumbled on his way to the front of the room. He looked like he was marching to Tower Hill for hanging. Surely they wouldn't let him compete. He was too young and didn't know enough spells. Yes, admittedly, he had faced insurmountable odds before and come out on top, but could he be expected to do it again? She crossed her arms on the table and let her head sink onto her arms. They just couldn't let him compete.

Across the table, she listened as Ron said, "Of course he gets his name in. Did he bloody tell his supposed best mate how to do it? No, of course not. Because gee, that would be telling."

She didn't hear Hermione's response to Ron. Unwilling to listen to any more of Ron's rant with thoughts of Harry facing unspeakable danger running through her mind, Ginny left to return to the common room. As she ensconced herself on a window seat which allowed her to see the room with an unobstructed view, she contemplated what the scene would be like in the common room once the rest of the Gryffindors came back. Would it be total chaos as a party ensued, like she imagined or would they be more subdued, understanding that Harry shouldn't be competing and would likely not be in the mood to celebrate?

The portrait hole opened and students milled excitedly into the room. Ginny watched as Fred and George brought food through and set it up on one of the tables. Everyone else seemed to be trying to figure out ways that they could demonstrate their pride that a Gryffindor was representing Hogwarts. Colin was taking pictures of everyone and everything in sight while others were set on creating a mess of the common room.

Only because she was watching for them did Ginny see Ron and Hermione slip in. Neither one was in the celebratory mood that the rest of the Gryffindors seemed to be in. Ron was bright red and obviously furious. Hermione looked to be trying to calm him down to no avail. He brushed her hand off his arm and stormed off up the boys' staircase. Ginny watched Hermione sigh as she turned and headed up the girls'.

A few moments later, a loud cry swept over the room as Harry stumbled in through the portrait hole. Every Gryffindor in the room, other than her, tried to shake his hand or pat him on the back. Everyone was thrusting food at him and no one took any notice of the trapped look on his face. Ginny wished she had the gumption to stand up and announce that every one should go to bed, but she was only a third-year. Who would listen to her? Still, she wanted to help Harry out somehow.

After about a half an hour of letting everyone give their well wishes, she made her way to Harry, who was sitting in an armchair in front of the fire, an untouched plate of food resting on his knee. Leaning down to whisper in his ear, Ginny said, "I think Ron is upstairs in your dorm. You might want to go talk to him. But be aware he's not too thrilled."

Harry glanced over his shoulder at her face, his eyes searching it suspiciously. Apparently, deciding that she wasn't kidding, he nodded curtly before excusing himself to ascend the stairs. Ginny watched as Harry trudged his way up, knowing that he would have no relief from the stress once he reached his room. She herself ascended her staircase and prepared herself for bed. Hearing the noise level outside taper off, she assumed everyone was headed to bed.

Laying her dressing gown down at the foot of her bed, she crawled into the covers flicking her curtains closed. She fell asleep quickly, wanting to escape the stress of the day, unaware that it would be following her into her dreams.

HPGWHPGWHPGWHPGWHPGW

Fourth Year Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory

Harry tossed and turned for over two hours after Ron had yanked his curtains closed, cutting off all conversation with Harry. Giving up on going to sleep any time soon, Harry grabbed his dressing gown off the hook at the end of his bed. Not that he was especially worried about running into anyone in the common room, but as he only wore pyjama bottoms to bed, he figured it might be cold, at least until he got the fire started. Harry picked his wand up off the table beside his bed and whispering "Lumos", lit his wand so he could make his way down the stairs.

Starting a fire, he settled down in a chair facing it to contemplate what happened earlier that night. His name had been pulled from the Goblet when he hadn't put it in there. So who could have? Moody said it must have been a full wizard or witch since they would have had to put a Confundus Charm on the Goblet.

A noise coming from the staircase startled Harry out of his reverie. Turning to find the source of the noise, he saw a silhouette coming down the stair. His heart pounded harder in his chest as he saw the telltale red glints of the girl's bed-rumpled hair in the firelight. He watched as Ginny stumbled off the bottom stair before crossing to slump down into the corner of one of the couches facing the opposite way from where he sat. Her shoulders shook slightly as he heard her take several deep breaths. Wondering how to alert her to his presence, he cleared his throat. Her head shot up and looked around. He saw how her body seemed to sag in relief once she recognized him. He stood up to cross to the couch that she was sitting on.

"Hey. Are you okay?" he asked, worried now that he could see there were tears swimming in her eyes. He sat down within arm's reach of her, not wanting to scare her by crowding her, but wanting to be close enough to help if he could.

She shook her head. "It's nothing. I just had a nightmare. That's all. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep right away, so I came down here." She had folded her arms around her body.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Harry asked her. She looked at him and shot him a lopsided grin. He was amazed to see a dimple flash in her right cheek.

"No. There really isn't anything you can do to help. Wait. Can you tell me… are they allowing you to compete in the tournament?" Ginny asked hesitantly.

"Apparently having your name in the Goblet of Fire is a magical contract. I can't get out of it," Harry responded with a shrug.

Ginny shot up off the couch to pace back and forth in front of the couch, outraged. "What? They're going to let you compete? Even though you didn't put your own name in? Don't they understand that someone is trying to kill you?" Harry marvelled at the intensity of her voice as she continued to call the adults in charge various names. His attention shifted from listening to her words to watching her body as her eyes blazed with a fire that warmed his very soul. She believed that he didn't put his name in. He didn't even have to say anything to her, denying the act that most everyone had already determined that he did. She simply believed that he would not have put his name in.

"Ginny," he interrupted her quiet rant. "Why don't you believe like everyone else? How is it that you know that I didn't put my own name in? After all," he gave a harsh laugh, "my best mate, your own brother, thinks I did."

Ginny dropped to the couch beside him and grabbed his hand. "Harry, you promised me you wouldn't." Her deep brown eyes sparkled as she smiled at him. "You keep your promises. Plus, you were too stunned when your name came out to even think you had thought it was a possibility."

"Wow. I don't think I've ever had anyone believe in me so unflaggingly. Thank you… for believing me and for knowing that I wouldn't have broken my promise to you," Harry whispered to her, squeezing her hand.

"Yes, well, I know you whether you believe it or not, Mr. Potter. Promises made are promises kept," she smiled at him before letting out a huge yawn quickly followed by an enticing blush. Her casual remark brought the promise that Harry had made in the Chamber back to the forefront of his mind. Determined that he would dig into his well of Gryffindor courage, he decided to ask her to Hogsmeade right then. Why was it that he could face down dementors and even throw off the Imperius curse, but was incredibly frightened at the mere chance that Ginny Weasley might say no?

"Ginny, the Saturday before the first task… Well, it's a Hogsmeade weekend. I was wondering, if you might, I mean, if you would like," Harry bumbled along, finally heaving a huge breath before finishing it. "Would you go with me?" He kept his eyes on his hand still holding hers, afraid to look and see what emotion would be displayed in her eyes. Would it be pity or sympathy? He didn't think he could handle either one of those. In his musings, he almost missed her answer.

"Of course, I will go with you, Harry. I thought you'd never ask," she said very sheepishly before covering her mouth with her hand to hide yet another yawn.

He looked up at her, amazed that she had said yes. "You will? Wonderful. I have loads of places to take you to see. It will be a wonderful day. You'll see."

"Harry, a day with you can't be anything other than wonderful. Wait. What do you mean you have loads of places to take me?" She tilted her head to look at him, eyes narrowed. "You weren't allowed to go last year."

He scrambled to think of a way to cover himself, but nothing came to mind. "Okay, I'll explain how I visited Hogsmeade another time. Now I think it's time for us to go to bed. I've seen you yawning. Do you think you'll be able to sleep now, Ginny?"

She grinned at him. "I don't see how I can have anything but good dreams now." Quickly, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before standing up and hurrying up the stairs. "Night," she called quietly over her shoulder.

Harry put a hand to his cheek where she had kissed him. It definitely looked as if good dreams were in order.